


Of You and Me

by navyblueoveryou



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, i got hit with the feels so here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navyblueoveryou/pseuds/navyblueoveryou
Summary: Ellie's got a question for Dina in the barn where they shared their first kiss. No major spoilers. Just some fluffy feels that I scribbled down in a few minutes at 2 AM.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 201





	Of You and Me

**Author's Note:**

> I love hearing your feedback - please feel free to send requests and I'm happy to take some. I'm still dusting off my fanfic writing abilities, so be patient with me - it's been a long time since I last fanfic'd, and these are the first TLOU/2 fics I've ever written. I also only plan on sticking to writing Ellie and Dina so, if you've got requests outside of that, I may not be the best person to come to for it.
> 
> Highly recommend you listen to the infamous Future Days by Pearl Jam when reading. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_"Take care of it, Ellie. I'm serious."_

_Ellie looked at the chain hanging from her fingertips as she observed the ring it held in better light. In the rays of sun that pushed through the window, the three precious stones glimmered and shimmered almost blindingly. Two smaller stones, both white diamonds, sandwiched a larger central stone. Marlene claimed it was a "gray diamond". While Ellie was skeptical, she took her word for it. They all nestled together on a gold band. Really something beautiful. Her mother's._

_"She wanted you to have it. I still think you're too young, but-"_

_"Thank you."_

_Marlene reeled. She hadn't been expecting that spitfire Ellie sans attitude. Clearly this was something she had needed - a new connection to her mother, something other than the letter. Her voice softened._

_"You're welcome, Ellie. Now get back to school."_

**_All the promises at sundown  
I meant them like the rest  
All the demons used to come around  
I'm grateful now they've left. _**

Ellie stood in the middle of the barn, the same barn she'd shared her first kiss with Dina in. The string lights accompanied the wooden interior with a soft warmth that kept the cold Jackson air at bay. Tonight, _she'd_ done her best to dress a bit out of character - a little more cleaned up, a little less...bloody and overall beat to hell as her partner had become accustomed to seeing her lately. But her bruised, torn apart body was on the mend - she'd even borrowed a bit of concealer from one of the other women in town to cover the remainder of a black eye, just for tonight. She'd scrubbed herself clean, gotten as much filth from under her nails as she could, pulled her hair back into something relatively neat. Tommy had teased her in the process, but had done his best to find Ellie a white collared shirt that fit her properly.

"Luckily for you, Joel wasn't lying. You've got the shoulders of a football player - I think you'll fill it out quite nice," he joked as he hung the shirt on the back of her door. "Go get 'er, kid. Proud of you." He'd brought a pair of black suspenders along as well, and as he held them in his hands, he observed them with a distant look of nostalgia. "Joel would be too, y'know." 

He helped Ellie into the suspenders after she'd slid into the dress shirt, tucking it away past the waistband of her best pair of fitted black jeans. She'd reached for her belt, but Tommy laughed and stopped her. "No need for that, kiddo. These braces gonna keep you nice and spiffy all night."

After slipping into a pair of black socks and the nicest pair of oxfords that she had, she looked herself over in the mirror. Tommy gave her a thumbs up in its reflection. 

"Well look at you, Ellie Williams," he said with a proud smile that she could almost see Joel in. "All grown up."

So now she stood, fidgeting in the center of an empty room. If she paced, the hard heels of her shoes echoed throughout, bouncing off of the high ceilings. It made her more nervous somehow, so she stood, almost stiffly, in one spot. Dina _had_ gotten her invitation, hadn't she? 

As time continued to pass, slow as fucking snails, Ellie hustled over to the bar and poured herself a drink, taking the alcohol down in one swig. Her face scrunched in disgust as the bottom of the now empty glass hit the counter. _Fuck, that's disgusting._

As she began her short trek back to the center of the room, she could hear the front door creaking open as Dina stepped inside. "El?" she called out, surprised to see that they were the only two in the building. She approached with a small laugh of disbelief. "What are you doing here alone, you weirdo?"

As she got closer, Dina fished a small bag of joints from the inside of her jacket. "I thought this was gonna be a party." She nudged Ellie playfully. "Guess it still can be, huh?"

Ellie shook her head with a smirk. "You're so annoying. I-"

"Oh, am I annoying?" Dina began to zip up her jacket again, as if she were preparing to go back out into the cold. "I'll just head home then - solo party, no need for company!"

_God, she really was annoying._

Ellie grabbed Dina by the arm gently and reeled her back until their bodies were pressed together, Ellie's hands resting protectively, lovingly against the small of her back. Over the speakers, a familiar song began to play, filling the room as Ellie began to sway them from side to side. "I always want your company," she said softly. "Always. Even if we're just slow dancing in an empty room."

Dina's face softened as she offered a small smile, pulling away just enough to undo her jacket. "Why don't we take our jackets off first. Otherwise it's going to be the 'hot pile of garbage' night all over again."

They both had a laugh. Their first kiss. The feeling of moths eating away at her insides. The feeling of a blissful death engulfed in Dina's embrace. A year ago. It had already been a year.

Ellie slipped out of her jacket and draped it over a nearby chair before taking Dina's, who immediately took notice of her partner's outfit. "Whoa," she breathed. "Wow wow _wow_ , El."

The heat burning in Ellie's cheeks showed itself in a dark red flush - dark enough to hide her freckles. She knew she didn't dress to impress often, but what reason did she have? Ellie was almost always on patrol - not like infected were dying to see her in a suit or something like one.

"What?" she asked, eyes widened playfully. "Is it me that smells like the hot pile of garbage now?"

Dina giggled and smacked Ellie's chest as she closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together in a lingering kiss. "No, you idiot. You smell really nice, actually. Like pine."

Ellie gave Dina a quick sniff, just as she had that night that had sealed their fate. "Hmm," she hummed, doing it again with more exaggeration. "Yeah, I'm not getting garbage this time. Maybe hints of...cooked meat?"

Dina scoffed and shook her head. "You are so fucking infuriating," she said between laughs. "I just came from the kitchen. We're doing a community dinner tomorrow - I was helping prepare, unlike _you._ "

Could teasing one another be a love language? It absolutely was one for them. They giggled between small smooches, Dina's arms draped over Ellie's shoulders. 

"But for real, you look amazing, babe. What's the occasion?" she inquired. 

Ellie's heart rate picked up, skipping beats along the way. This was it. This was either how she'd persevere and succeed or die trying. 

_To the end of the universe and back. Endure and survive._

She could do this.

"I just..." Ellie started, her voice trailing off. Fuck. Her hands were shaking as she rested her hand against the chest pocket of her shirt, making sure the ring was still there. It was. How hadn't Dina noticed it? "...I just wanted us to be alone."

Dina furrowed her brow. "We can be alone at either one of our places - why the barn?" she asked with a small smile. Her hands had moved to hold Ellie's sides. Dina couldn't help it - she loved the feeling of Ellie's sturdy, muscular torso. Kid was built like a goddamn tree. In the best way possible, of course.

"...Do you remember our first kiss?" Ellie asked. Dina smirked and nodded. Of course she did. Some angsty conversations had followed, but clearly they'd gotten past it.

"Yeah, I think I gave it a six," she teased. "A solid six. It was pretty alright. But I changed my mind after waiting out the storm in Eugene's grow op with you. Solid 10. Well, maybe a 9.5, company kinda ruined the mood."

Ellie scoffed with a small smile. "Yeah."

"Ya know, I still remember the first time you played this song for me," she continued. "And all the times after." Dina's hand cupped Ellie's face lovingly as they gazed at one another. "I have to admit - it's my favorite song."

That feeling of emotion was bubbling up into Ellie's chest - the only time she'd ever felt it was when Dina was nearby. It felt like a massive wave crashing over her, drowning her in something she'd never known before. It's sole power was enough to knock her out cold. 

"It's love," Tommy had explained to her once. "It'll take out the coldest heart, let me tell you."

If Ellie was honest, she'd assumed her heart to be encased in ice. After suffering loss after loss, after the unspeakable acts she'd committed in search of vengeance...surely she wasn't capable of feeling love to that degree? But looking into Dina's eyes, a deep brown with flecks of gold in the right light, Ellie could reconsider that. She absolutely could love, but only thanks to Dina's unwavering warmth that had melted that ice away.

She took a deep breath before reaching into her shirt's pocket, looping the ring around her fingertip and immediately tucking it away in her closed palm. Her hands lingered on Dina's lower back as the shorter of the couple moved her arms back to Ellie's shoulders. "I couldn't do this without you, Dina," Ellie whispered against the top of her partner's head. "I don't wanna do this without you."

Dina's fingertips gently brushed back and forth against the nape of Ellie's neck lovingly. "You'll never have to do this without me," she whispered. "If you thought you were getting rid of me, you thought wrong, buddy."

They smiled at each other - something soft and pure. Something genuine and unbreakable. 

_It's time, Ellie. Just do it._

"If I ever were to lose you, I'd surely lose myself," Ellie said, her voice trembling. Dina simply listened, those understanding eyes glued to her darling Ellie, ever patient. "I never thought that I would be capable of loving someone. Especially the uh..." fuck, why did her voice have to crack and break _now_? "The way that I love you, Dina." 

There was that gentle smile, so sweet and understanding. She knew that Ellie wasn't 'good' at these kinds of things, that it might take a few tries, but she was willing to stay there, in her arms, all night if she needed to. If she'd learned anything in the time she had known Ellie beautifully, it was that she was a carefully budding flower - slow to grow, but stunning when finally blossomed. So Dina was patient, as she'd promised to be. And Dina wasn't the type to go back on promises.

"You've seen me at my absolute worst and you stuck around," Ellie continued, struggling to stay choked up at best and to keep the waterworks from starting. Nothing made her feel weaker than crying. She took a deep, shaking breath before continuing her impromptu speech. "You continue to stick around. You've seen me do..." was her entire body shaking now? Ellie, ever a warrior, felt like a fragile leaf. And as always, it was her Dina keeping her grounded. "...do unspeakable things and you haven't turned your back on me. There was a time that I thought it was just friendship but...now I know that it's way more than that."

Dina nodded in affirmation. "Mmmhmm," she hummed. "Sure is."

Ellie looked down. Another deep breath, despite the fact that they felt shallow in her lungs. She exhaled audibly. _Okay. You can do it._

She stepped back, her hands now in front of her as she fiddled nervously, careful not to drop the ring. "What I'm trying to say, Dina..." Ellie was frustrating herself. Every time the words started to flow, she stopped, as if her brain was telling her that this wasn't going to end well, that if she backpedaled now, she would save herself the humiliation and pain of rejection. But when she looked at that woman standing in front of her, the woman she'd fallen in love with unknowingly, the one who had loved her back...

It didn't make sense to run away from it.

"Okay," Ellie said, more so to herself than to Dina. She shook her limbs out in an attempt to fight off the pins and needles of anxiety. "I'm really bad at this, so I'm just going to say it, okay?" She looked to Dina for confirmation, who simply nodded. 

"When I left Jackson, you told me anywhere I go, you go."

"I did."

"Yeah. So." God, did everyone feel this nervous when they were doing this? 

**_Back when I was feeling broken  
I focused on a prayer,  
You came deep as any ocean -  
Did something out there hear? _ **

"Fuck it," Ellie mumbled, dropping down to one knee and presenting her mother's ring to Dina between her trembling thumb and index fingertips. "I want us to go everywhere together. Forever."

Now it was Dina's turn to be hit with the wave of emotions that quickly engulfed her, pulling her into it's undertow as her hands clasped over her mouth, tears immediately beginning to flow freely down her cheeks. "Ellie, c'mon," she whimpered. "This is so fucking mean, I--"

"I'm not messing with you, Dina," Ellie assured, tears now staining her face. "Please. You make me the best person that I can possibly be, and I owe it all to you." She swallowed past the lump in her throat as her voice continued to crack under the strain. "Stay with me."

After a grueling moment of hesitance, Dina took a step closer and gave Ellie her hand. And Ellie, as revered as she was for her bravery, needed a few tries to get it right, as nerves had gotten the best of her and she couldn't quite get the aim down. But between nervous giggles and a few awkward moments, the ring slid onto Dina's finger and Ellie pushed to her feet, gently leaving a kiss atop her partner's hand on the way up.

Dina, with tears still freely flowing like waterfalls, reeled that beautiful girl of hers in for the kiss of the century, fearful to let their bodies separate, wondering if she would wake up in her bed, alone, lost in a cruel dream.

"It was my mom's," Ellie explained as Dina took a moment to admire the beautiful ring that was now hers to call her own. "Her...best friend gave it to me in Boston when I was fourteen."

"Oh Ellie," she breathed. "It's..." she swatted away new tears that were threatening to spill over. "It's absolutely perfect."

"Now, about that farm..." Ellie said with a toothy grin, to which Dina responded with a small snicker. "Guess we better get scouting, huh?"

"Only if you're gonna be my little cowboy," Dina teased. "You promised!"

Ellie shook her head and huffed playfully, that pearly smile permanently fixed to her face. "Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that."

**_I believe_  
_And I believe 'cause I can see_  
_Our future days_  
_Days of you and me._**


End file.
